How beautiful is Panama! A photographic conversation from Burj al-Shamali camp

Initiated by Yasmine Eid-Sabbagh and Simon LouriéProduced by the Arab Image Foundation and with the support of the Prince Claus Fund, Beirut May 2008
Distributed with the support of the OSI Documentary Distribution Grant
Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria April – September 2009

Studying the relationship between photography and visual memory, this is a long-term, two-part research project in Burj al Shamali, a refugee camp southeast of Sur whose residents come primarily from northern Palestine. The first part involves running a workspace where young people make, edit and discuss photography. The second part involves gathering material from family albums and commercial studios. In this case, photographs are borrowed, digitized, annotated and returned. The work of an artist concerned with the effects of her own practice, this research project has led to an exhibition that doubles as a public installation.“How Beautiful Is Panama!” features the work of seven photographers – Ali al Ali, Ahmad al Khalil, Susan al Khatib, Mohammad Amiuny, Yasser Ibrahim, Nisreen Musherfieh and Fatmeh Soleiman – who turned the exhibition into an inventive public installation that toured two venues and five camps in Lebanon and Jordan.